What makes a good Survival knife ?

Wow! That was a truly humbling and sublime post. I mean it. I thought I was the only one baffled by the +5.5" knife craze.So now I see there are more of us out there. I should underscore that my mentioning that O do support the usefulness of +12" Machete's for specific tasks that SAKs can't handle.

nemoaz said:
What a laugher. The majority of the world gets along just fine with small folding pocket knives, Swiss Army knives etc.

The Rambo knife phenomenom began, of course, with Rambo. The power of television is amazing. Now everyone on this board thinks that you must have a Rambo knife at least the size of a their penis. Adn you use it to make a spear and jump at pigs. OR batonning wood. At term that I've never even heard of prior to this board. Everyone thinks they need to know how to suture themselves also to be like Rambo. Whatever.

I spent a few years in army special ops. They don't issue Rambo knives. Some guys bought them, mostly the newbies or the REMF radio guys. When a warrior carries a knife, it's usually something like a double edged Randal. And it's used (theoretically) as a backup or for silent kills. I say theoretically, because I've never seen or heard of anyone actually needing it for that role. If you are to that point, things have SERIOUSLY gone wrong.

Yeah, Rambo knives look cool. They also weigh about as much as a handgun and have few uses that aren't better served by something else.

I'm lucky in that I still get paid to spend almost every day in the field under rough conditions. My first knife in my kit or on my duty belt is a leatherman, though a ;locking SAK would work too. (I use the pliers and tools more than the blades, so I like leatherman over SAK for my purpose.) I could easily get by with just this. I also carry a small sharp knife, usually a Spiderco. Precise cuts are this knife's forte. In my pack, I often carry a small hatchet. It weighs about as much as a Rambo knife and chops much better.

If you are hunting and skinning a lot, I can see the need for a fixed blade so that the cleaning is easier. Most of the Rambo knives I've seen recommended here wouldn't be able to fill this role. As far as I can tell, the role of the Rambo knife is batonning and spear making. These tasks are very low on my priority list.

When I see some 8" knife flapping around on some guys harness or leg, I think wannabe, psycho, or clown. Many other professionals feel the same way.
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sublime post
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:confused: Not an original thought by any means. I remember an old team daddy grabbing one of the commo guys "Rambo" special and bashing it on the tree. The hollow handle split from the blade. Team Daddy just smiled and told him to carry something useful next time.

I should underscore that my mentioning that O do support the usefulness of +12" Machete's for specific tasks that SAKs can't handle.
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Yeah, I should of added that. Machete's make great choppers for many environments, but Arizona isn't one of them. So mine hasn't been out for a while.

We are creatures of habit in many ways. I can reach back right now and pretend to draw my machete... or my hatchet off my alice pack. Even though I haven't carried either for a decade.

I don't have one of those small saws, but it looks interesting and could replace the hatchet if I like it well enough.
 
nemoaz said:
I like that term. Surprise Camping. Unplanned camping.
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yes, if you were planning to go camping, well then you can pack along all the toys!...cell phone, cooler, axe, log splitter, and 10 different pocket knives all with their own little blades and tweezers too!,....LOL

But when we use the term "survival knife" we are talking about a different beast, a different design aim for it's expected use.

In normal camping or while in the Army, you can plan ahead and thereby have tons of little different knives and tools around to do the cutting and stuff that you need and plan to do.

But in a real survival situation, a true survival knife has to be designed incase you got it and the shirt on your back alone, and thats it.
 
yes, if you were planning to go camping, well then you can pack along all the toys!...cell phone, cooler, axe, log splitter, and 10 different pocket knives all with their own little blades and tweezers too!,....LOL
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You obviously haven't been in the field for couple of months at a time or are envisioning a mechanized unit. A leatherman and a Spiderco weigh a fraction of an 8" rambo special.

But when we use the term "survival knife" we are talking about a different beast, a different design aim for it's expected use...But in a real survival situation, a true survival knife has to be design incase you got it and the
shirt on your back alone, and thats it.
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Well, I guess you'll have to teach me about this, true survival creature.:D So everytime I mention this true survival creature, I'm told a small folder won't do because I must baton and make spears, which a folder cannot do. So I suppose I'm just camping if I'm not batonning or spearmaking?
 
where did he say anyhthing about a ramboo?

Car camping you can bring anything you want, taking a hike out in the woods, weight's an issue, pack light.
 
nemoaz said:
. A leatherman .
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I believe the leatherman is a multi-tool, not a survival knife...
Here we are talking about what again?
Oh, thats right "WHAT MAKES A GOOD SURVIVAL KNIFE?"

in line with this topic, the leatherman I own, might be handy for some things, but it will NEVER - EVER be stong enough alone, nor have a design that even comes close to handeling the expected use of a real survival knife.

This is why makers of knives always make sure they name their knives so that people dont think of them wrongly...a multi-tool is designed for some things, a Survival knife for others...

One of the things in the back of a knife maker's mind when he makes a survival knife is not that the knife can do everything as well or better that any other knife.
no, rather the knife is designed to do many things well enough to help a person "to live" in a survival situation.

So a survival knife might not be as good as my kitchen chef's knife at cooking,
or it might not chop down a tree as good as my chainsaw
or it might not help build a shelter as well and a table saw.
or it might not be as usefull in self protection against a man or wild animal as a sword.
But it's design will allow it to be used to do "many things' to help the person in such trouble "to live"
 
One of the things in the back of a knife maker's mind when he makes a survival knife is not that the knife can do everything as well or better that any other knife.
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I disagree completely. What is in their mind is "What will sell?"

no, rather the knife is designed to do many things well enough to help a person "to live" in a survival situation.

So a survival knife might not be as good as my kitchen chef's knife at cooking,
or it might not chop down a tree as good as my chainsaw
or it might not help build a shelter as well and a table saw.
or it might not be as usefull in self protection against a man or wild animal as a sword.
But it's design will allow it to be used to do "many things' to help the person in such trouble "to live"
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All right, I've done all these things quiet well with a leatherman and a spiderco (had both of my current carry models since about 1989). And never had to worry about the spyderco stabbing myself in the thigh if it pierced the sheath during a PLF, as I saw happen to a guy carrying a Kabar. (I know, neither of us will parachute again in our lives.) I admit I have never batoned wood and in fact had never heard of it. What is it my spyderco and leatherman cannot do that a "TRUE SURVIVAL KNIFE" can?
 
nemoaz,
That was a good post. Less it's lost in the maze of other posts, I'm a proponent of solid folders because those are the knives most of use EDC so will most likely be what we have when we are thrust into a situation not of our choosing. A few may EDC small fixed blades, but I know no one who EDC's a wilderness blade or even a large camping knife.

If you go camping and put yourself into a survival situation with all the bells and whistles at your disposal -- is that really a survival situation? There's a thread here about a group that went out in winter IIRC to practice/teach survival skills. That's good training, but it's not survival. Now in a real situation when you aren't training and don't have all your gear, what knife do you have?

I don't know about the rest of you, but when I step into my pants each morning, there's a knife in the pocket. What knife is that?
 
Dont discluded a multitool, thats a proven survival item, Les Stroud works with one, with enough skill, you could get by without anything, but a multitool has its perks.
 
Allan Molstad said:
Look at this knife for example - http://www.coldsteel.com/16cc.html
You just know that it's going to snag if you try to make use of the full blade.
So after a few snags and repositions, the person will start to stop the cut way short of the dropped edge.
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If you keep wanting to use 10.6" of a 10.5" blade and you keep getting snagged, then you have more serious issues than knife design to deal with !!

:D
 
I don't know about the rest of you, but when I step into my pants each morning, there's a knife in the pocket. What knife is that?
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Well, I think I've been convinced. I need a TRUE SURVIVAL KNIFE. I think I'll strap it to my inner thigh and cut out the front right pocket of all my pants. It will be right there, with me all the time. :D :D :D

Gotta run guys. Not trying to jerk any chains. Really, I'm not. Just trying to make you consider other options. Maybe you don't really need that $300 8" knife. Just consider it.
 
Well I've been slacking at work for a bit and read through the 5 pages. Are we taking about the choil still or what?

Can Allan pls post a pic of YOUR perfect survial knife so that we can see what's good instead of a bunch of pics about what's not. I have NEVER EVER heard of someone dying somewhere because their knife couldn't push cut without snagging on the "drop edge".
 
Fonly said:
Dont discluded a multitool, thats a proven survival item,.
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yes, I love mine too.
But I dont call it a true survival knife, because it's not a real survival knife at all
It never was designed to be one....it's a multi-tool.
Folders are never going to be as good and stong as a fixed blade, thats a cold fact of life.

If you think you own a nice knife that you want to think of as a "survival knife"?
Fine, lets find out if the maker designed it to really be one?
here is one way you can find out right now -
One only has to walk outside and start choping down a few trees to see if their blade is truly a good survival knife or not.
Can you chop down trees with it?, or just pick at the bark a little and maybe shave it?
Can you batoned a stack of firewood?
 
sherlockbonez said:
Can Allan pls post a pic of YOUR perfect survial knife so that we can see what's good instead of a bunch of pics about what's not. ".
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I think that pitman has already posted some great knives that with a little re-grinding , would make a true survival knife.

Im not sure,but I think the KA-BAR in his photo is actually sold as a survival knife?
 
Allan Molstad said:
yes, I love mine too.
But I dont call it a true survival knife, because it's not a real survival knife at all
It never was designed to be one....it's a multi-tool.
Folders are never going to be as good and stong as a fixed blade, thats a cold fact of life.

If you think you own a nice knife that you want to think of as a "survival knife"?
Fine, lets find out if the maker designed it to really be one?
here is one way you can find out right now -
One only has to walk outside and start choping down a few trees to see if their blade is truly a good survival knife or not.
Can you chop down trees with it?, or just pick at the bark a little and maybe shave it?
Can you batoned a stack of firewood?
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I wouldnt chop a tree with a multitool, I'd saw it ;) No, I cant baton with a multitool, but ill cut a branch and turn it into a wedge and split fire wood.
 
Why would I need to chop down a couple trees in a survial situations when I can just pick up a bunch of branches off the ground?

Wouldn't shaving branches to make kindling more useful?

i think batoning is a capablity that's good to have, but not really needed.
 
David E said:
Um...............baton ?

:D
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If you are asking "What is that term mean?"
Then it's how you split firewood to get at the dry stuff inside.
You place the knife on top of a section of firewood, then use another log or section of wood to bang the knife blade down and all the way into the firewood to cause it to split.

You will need to do this because many times the outer bark of firewood is wet
 
sherlockbonez said:
Why would I need to chop down a couple trees in a survial situations when I can just pick up a bunch of branches off the ground?
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Oh no one is saying you cant still pick up branches.
The problem is that we always want to make sure we have a survival knife that can allow us the chance to chop down a tree.

It's one thing to decide not to chop down a tree if you dont need to.
It's another thing to need to chop down a tree and not have chance to , due to poor survival kinfe design.

The question should be left up to the person in the field, not up to the limitations of the knife
 
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